Dr. Alenia Kysela appointed Department Head, Family Medicine and Brian Hennen Chair
On the recommendation of Dean Jane Philpott, Matthew Evans, Provost and Vice-Principal (Academic) at Queen’s University has appointed Dr. Alenia Kysela as Department Head, Family Medicine, effective November 1, 2023 until October 31, 2028. In addition, Dean Philpott has appointed Dr. Kysela as the Brian Hennen Chair in Family Medicine for the same term.
As Department Head, Dr. Kysela is responsible for advancing the education, research, and patient care missions of Queen’s, Kingston Health Sciences Centre, and Providence Care and has accountabilities to all three institutions as well as the Southeastern Ontario Academic Medical Organization. She will provide leadership and management oversight of the clinical, academic, and research operations of the Department across its mandates. As the Brian Hennen Chair in Family Medicine, Dr. Kysela’s leadership will help advance primary care research and foster a supportive teaching and learning environment for all faculty, learners, and trainees.
Dr. Philpott wishes to thank Dr. Michael Green for his expert leadership as Department Head, Family Medicine for the past six and a half years. His contributions were invaluable in directing the department through a critical time navigating the COVID-19 pandemic, and in advancing primary care research that is instrumental to transforming primary care across the country. Dr. Green will be taking on the role of President of the College of Family Physicians of Canada as of November 1. Dean Philpott and the rest of the faculty wish him well as he moves into this important leadership position.
Dr. Kysela joined the Department of Family Medicine at Queen’s in 2018 and has proven herself as an engaging and compassionate physician with extensive clinical, leadership, and academic experience. She aspires to improve population health through health system evolution and by providing quality patient care through interdisciplinary teams. In addition to post-graduate teaching, she is a co-instructor of Meds 115, a key undergraduate medicine course that teaches foundational principles and promotes family medicine to medical students at Queen’s. Dr. Kysela is committed to promoting Equity, Diversity, Inclusion, Indigeneity, and Accessibility (EDIIA) within the department and collaborated with others to develop a role to lead this work. In addition, she led the charge to implement executive coaching for faculty members and championed the creation of a physician wellness/professional sustainability role in the department. She is a highly regarded educator who has also held the roles of Deputy Department Head, Interim Clinic Lead and Residency Wellness and Resilience Director at Queen’s Family Medicine.
Dr. Kysela has experience in primary care settings from rural Ontario to inner-city Toronto, with expertise in working with marginalized populations to address their acute and chronic health care needs. She has also worked in acute care, spending much of the first half of her career working in emergency medicine in rural hospitals in Ontario and Nova Scotia. She was an Assistant Professor in the Department of Family Medicine at Dalhousie University. Over the span of her career, she has also done low-risk obstetrics, inpatient care, and general practitioner-oncology. Early in her professional life, Dr. Kysela developed an interest in global health obtaining a Master’s Degree in Medical Anthropology from the University of Western Ontario. She was a Trudeau Foundation Scholar and participated in HIV/AIDS primary care in Cambodia as a part of a global health initiative.
Prior to joining Queen’s, Dr. Kysela worked in senior leadership roles with the Nova Scotia Health Authority, Ontario Medical Association, and in hospitals and health care settings in southern Ontario and Toronto. She received her MD from McMaster University and completed her Family Medicine residency at Queen’s. She is a Fellow of the College of Family Physicians of Canada, and has been inducted into the McMaster University Alumni Gallery, a special award held by alumni who have made outstanding contributions to society.
Please join Dean Philpott in congratulating Dr. Kysela on her appointment.
